Klopp, Pearce, Barrett, Ready - all say it is his choice to pull out of the deals for players like Gotze or Draxler.
However it seems most people seem to ignore what our manager and the other more reliable people say about our club and point the fingers at FSG, with no source just their own hunch.
FSG probably do want to make money from us. Most chairman will be the same in our league, bar the Man City and Chelsea ones.
I have no problem with them making money from us, as long as we are well run in order to have sustained success.
For that to happen you need to have the right manager and structure to provide that. They have got that manager in Klopp. He has proven to build a quality, winning team, on a low budget and punch above his weight winning the German League twice vs Bayern who have far greater resources. Not to mention what he did in Europe with that team. But that team wasn't an instant success. It took a couple of years for Klopp to improve the squad, coach and improve. It's not like he bought world beater and put then together and they instantly became great. Quite the opposite.
Our fans want big names, big money spent. In the summer I think we learnt a good lesson that big money and top reputation on Gotze, wasn't necessarily the best fit for our team under Klopp, than Mane. Although at the time, the majority of our fans were craving Gotze and unimpressed with the Mane signing. It's about the right player, not the most expensive or biggest reputation.
People blame FSG for only wanting young players, I'm sure it is their preference, but they have bought older ones like Benteke, which shows that isn't always the case. But more importantly, it is also Klopps choice, to get young, hungry players who will run through a brick wall for him and he can mould into his way of playing. But he won't be rash and panic buy, he'll wait before getting someone he really wants like Brandt or Pulisic, than go for another alternative... especially someone like Draxler, who it seems he liked as a player but was only focussed about money. Klopp has strong values and I like it how he sticks to those beliefs. In the long term that approach will be best for our club IMO as we've wasted far too much money over the years on players who have not been either good enough or worth what we have paid.
In the short term that might mean we miss out on a Gotze or a Draxler, but in the long term we might get the better fit for the long term such as Mane or Brandt. Money can speed up success, but you still need to spend the money right, just look at Man Utd with Di Maria and other players they have bought for massive funds the last few years, with little to show for it.
Are our scouts good enough? Hard to say IMO. I think when we get players like Coutinho, Firmino, Mane, Can, Gomez etc - then you'd say yes. But obviously there have been plenty of failures as well. I think most scouting structures would have a similar set of results. For me the key is to accept that you'll make mistakes and get rid of the ones who don't work out. The issue is when you keep persisting with players who are clearly not right for the club or set up. I think we did that with Benteke for example. Sure, bad buy. But we got rid of him when that was clear and we move on. I hope Klopp continues to be ruthless in that regard, even if some of those players are ones he signed himself. Managers will make mistakes, the problem is not changing the mistakes quickly.
I didn't expect everything to be rosy under Klopp over night. People can point to FSG and say they have been here for a long term and we should have seen better. But the owners don't buy the players, coach the teams, select the team, do the tactics etc. FSG have trusted others to do that for them - Dalglish, Comolli, Rodgers, The Committee - now Klopp. I think FSG have made mistakes in the past, but they have shown a willingness to learn from them and I believe the appointment of Klopp shows that. If you have an approach to the game, where it is not about spending massively like Chelsea & Man City, then you need a manager like Klopp - they're done that. They need to give him everything they can to give him the best chance of working. According to Klopp (I believe him, given he's not a 'yes man') they have done that. Klopp has said he also has first & last say on all transfers - a role that not all managers get in Europe.
Our fans want everything now. More money spent now. Trophies now. New players now. Sadly, these things take time - especially with our approach and what Klopp (and FSG) inherited. Last summer we could have thrown more money and possibly got Gotze - doesn't mean he would be better than Mane or compliment Firmino & Coutinho as much. I think Mane has been a perfect fit for Klopp and our team, especially as we lacked pace. We could go spend massively like Man U did with Di Maria and it flop, the idea that he'll isntantly improve us, but it doesn't always work out like that.
Klopp isn't building something here for instantly success. If we win in the short term, then great. But I believe he wants long term, sustained success. For that to happen it's about getting the right players who can offer you for 5+ years, not just one or two. Hence why he won't panic buy unless he finds the right players.
I believe we can be successful with FSG's approach, especially with Klopp at the helm. He has proven it at Dortmund before, building a team with not huge resources (and we have far more resources than they had). Look at Atletico competing with Barca & Real, despite not having huge resources. It isn't easy, it is far easier throwing money at it like Mourinho does and having instantly success. But it doesn't mean this approach can't work with patience, belief and everyone buying into it - the players, owners, manager and fans.
The people who want the short term approach, yes we'd probably need new owners, we can hire Mourinho and watch a classless guy on the side of the pitch, constantly blaming refs etc. We can have players on bigger wages, who care less for the club - but we'd probably have more trophies in the short term. If that's what you want then you don't want Klopp. Klopp builds things, he doesn't buy great players - he buys potential and makes them great. Actually it's a perfect fit for LFC, as we have a history of making players great.
FSG & Klopp are united in their approach. If you don't like FSG, I really don't think you should like Klopp - they have the same idea of what they want. Personally I'm happy with both and although FSG aren't perfect, nor if is Klopp - I think they can be successful and I am patient enough to give it the best chance of success.
Very well put and it sums up exactly how I feel about FSG also. I genuinely believe they have the clubs best interest at heart. The black and white of it is that they do back the manager financially and it really frustrates me when people claim they don't. Benteke was a Rodgers signing, everyone connected with the club knew it and whether the owners thought it was the right sort of player to bring in or not they backed the managers plan for the player and we splashed out 33 million quid. The chances are Benteke wasn't the preferred 'committee' signing if you believe the reports on who was (Coutinho, Sturridge, Firmino). If that's not backing the manager I don't know what is.
There also seems to be a notion that we continually sell our best players without a fight. With regards to both Torres and Sterling (I will exlcude Suarez becuase once Barca come calling with 75 million pounds theres almost nothing than can be done), the owners made it completely clear that anything below the 50 million pound asking price would be instantly rejected and they stuck to their word until they got the fee they asked for. Both players wanted to move on and it would have been easy to accept the 43 million pounds City bid for Sterling and run but FSG made in concrete that everything was on their terms otherwise the player would be going nowhere. In hindsight, we concluded two great deals for the players and I'm pretty sure a high percentage of fans were also content with how they have panned out. If you look at the replacements we brought in; Suarez and Firmino we almost certainly upgraded on both the sale of Torres and Sterling with better players for half the price. Fantastic business, but its almost as though the fact that they weren't 50 million players themselves, its held against the owners. I remember at the time we sold Suarez and all or deals had been done before deadline day fans were claiming what a great summer we had had; strengthening in a number of positions with the money available. We spent 45 million on Lovren and Lallana both of whom were high on Rodgers priorities - not the owners choices.
With regards to Klopp, the amount of dead wood that he shifted last summer we were always going to run up a decent total in player sales. The owners backed Klopp with the players he wanted. We spent 34 million on Mane, a fee that most on here were saying was too much. It seems they are damned if they do, damned if they don't. No Europe this season is a major factor with regards to squad size whether people like it or not, its pretty much 10-12 less games on the assumption we made the QF of a European Comp. There is no point in stockpiling players for 3 competitions. Apart from the past month or so Origi and Sturridge have barely had a run in the first team. The squad size isn't the biggest problem as far as I'm concerned, its more to do with tactics and teams coming up with better strategies to counter us. We could have gone out and spent 25 million on a Mane replacement for January, because apparently missing Mane was the core problem. Well that didn't seem the case on Saturday.
The solution to our current problems are always on the training field and not in the Janaury transfer market.
